Patient and staff satisfaction with 'day of admission' elective surgery

Objectives. To evaluate patient and staff satisfaction with day of admission surgery in a neurosurgical unit and its effect on theatre start times. Methods and design. Patients were admitted to a Neurosciences admission lounge (NAL) for neurosurgery on the morning of their operation if deemed appropriate by their neurosurgical consultant. All patients in the NAL were asked to complete patient satisfaction questionnaires. Staff members involved in the care of these patients also completed a satisfaction questionnaire. Theatre start times were compared with those whose patients had been admitted prior to the day of surgery. 378 patients admitted on the day of surgery, 16 doctors (5 anaesthetists, 7 neurosurgeons and 4 neuro high dependency unit, HDU doctors) and 5 nurses. Patients completed an anonymised emotional mapping patient satisfaction questionnaire, and short interviews were carried out with staff members. Theatre start times were obtained retrospectively from the theatre database for lists starting with patients admitted on the day of surgery, and lists starting with patients admitted prior to the day of surgery. Results. 83% of patients felt positive on arrival in the NAL and 88% felt positive on being seen by the doctors and nurses prior to surgery. Overall 79% of patients gave positive responses throughout their patient pathway. 90% of staff were positive about day of admission surgery and all staff members were satisfied that there were no negative effects on surgical outcome. Theatre start time was on average 27 minutes earlier in patients admitted on the day of surgery. Conclusions. Neurosurgical patients, appropriately selected, can be admitted on the day of surgery with high staff and patient satisfaction and without delaying theatre start times.